Culture

Small is beautiful when it comes to learning

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-14 10:31

By Zhang Chengliang/China Daily

Micro blog page of Tsinghua University.

Symbol of Tsinghua University's micro blog.

Parents and universities have caught on to the fact that students love micro blogs, Wang Wei looks at the reasons

The first thing Li Ping, 47, does every day at work is look at the enrollment information of different universities that her daughter has targeted next year.

The civil servant at the Ministry of Commerce always thought blogs weren't for her until she discovered that many elite universities posted their latest admission policies on micro blogs.

With just a few clicks of her mouse, she found this year's enrollment number for Tsinghua University, the application date for the University of Hong Kong and was informed that a renowned sociologist will give lectures at the Communications University of China.

"Micro-blogging is the best, quickest and most interactive way for me to understand which university suits my daughter the best," she said.

Parents like Li have become fresh converts to micro blogs as a result of their popularity with students and universities.

It is estimated that Sina micro blog - the most popular micro-blogging site in China has 60 million users and more than 45 percent are students, according to Mei Jingsong, director of Sina education channel.

She said the popularity of Sina micro blog among students had caused a ripple effect - universities then started micro-blogging to promote themselves and to lure stellar students, then parents joined in.

As of Friday last week, 75 universities including one from Hong Kong had opened Sina micro-blogging pages. They post activity information and introduce their enrollment policies and renowned professors to students. "More and more universities have approached me to open an account," Mei said.

It has only been 20 days since Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) started a micro blog, but the university, which accommodates more than 7,000 students, has attracted more than 22,000 followers to its page.

Wang Mingxin, a teacher in charge of BFSU's micro blog, told METRO that the followers include current, graduated and prospective students and also people who have nothing to do with the universities but are interested in some of the activities it organizes.

"It is the best interactive platform between professors and students. Professors will understand what students' concerns are and help them," she said.

Before the university started micro-blogging, BFSU posted information on its internal website, but students rarely visited the site, she said.

Some universities have even started more than one micro blog. For instance, Peking University has a micro blog at Sina.com and its admissions office opened another at Sohu micro-blogging in November.

A teacher from Peking University admissions office, who declined to be named, told METRO that parents and students are very concerned about the university's admissions policy, which can vary year to year. So messages on the micro blog are the quickest and most accurate way to receive the information.

"We want parents and students to get information from an official channel. Micro-blogging is the best way," he added.

Some students also use micro-blogging to keep in touch with their parents.

Li Tongming, a freshmen from University of International Business and Economics taught his father how to use the service as a way to get to know what is going on in his son's life.

"When I post a message on the page, my father is often the first one to respond," said Li, from Hebei province. "Although I am away from home, I still feel connected with my family through micro-blogging."